Just A Scratch
by Iridian's Legacy
Summary: Robin's face-off with Joker has gruesome consequences. (Elaborated version of Robin's fight with Joker in the episode "Revelation," 1x14. One-shot, no character death. T for violence and blood. May contain spoilers-read at your own risk.)


**[AN]: I wish there would have been more coverage on Robin's fight with Joker in the episode "Revelation," 1x14. Here is one version of what could have happened. I tried my best to stay in canon, which wasn't hard as only two moments of the duel were shown, but somethings do not add up and that's why it's called FanFiction.**

**I have no rights to Young Justice or the characters blah blah blah, Cartoon Network was idiotic to cancel this show.**

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"The Helmet of Fate…" Wotan's surprise was enough to cut off the electrical blasts that pinned down each member of the Team. Still, the unbearable pain lingered, keeping Robin from leaping to his feet, from turning to the scene at his back.

But he heard Kid Flash scream in horror, "No, Aqualad! Don't!"

Wally's cry followed a sickening crack, and a blur of black and red passed over Robin moment later. He looked up just in time to see Wally collide with the wide trunk of a tree and rebound to the muck and grime below.

"Kid!" Robin called. He spat the vile taste of mud from his mouth, bracing against the slimy swamp bottom to stand, but Wotan's magically-charged shocks had left him unbelievably sore and jolting with lingering electrical surges. But he had to stand. He had to get up.

A blinding flash of light washed over the battle, the air shifting peculiarly, like the tides had turned tail.

Trembling, Robin craned his neck to find the source and his stomach sank.

A figure clad in golden armor that shone with a light of its own hovered three feet above the ground, its billowing cape acting almost as a shield for the recovering heroes. Beneath the helmet, Robin knew, dark Atlantean skin and an unwavering will.

"Oh no…" So that was Plan B.

Fate stayed only for moments, however, and ascended against the burning remains of the Mother Plant that rained down and around like fireworks.

Wally rose from the swamp, clutching his right arm. The horror in his eyes masked any pain he could be feeling.

A wave of adrenaline hit Robin like an amplified sugar rush—he had some bandages in his utility belt. He could patch up Wally, no problem. The rest were handling themselves, now that Wotan was otherwise occupied.

Fate boomed above: "Wotan, you are mine!" Beneath the thunderous baritone, only members of the Team could distinguish their leader's softer voice, wielding power unheard of within armor shackles.

Robin set his teeth and readied his muscles for an onslaught of ache. His hair hung in filthy strings in front of his eyes as he went to stand, rising like some deformed beast from the swamp floor, his back arched in a cat-like manner. He had to ignore the pain—Batman would never be down this long.

A heavy step from his seven made him jolt and turn, wide-eyed.

Joker.

The clown's expensive purple suit clashed with the filth of the swamp, like an inappropriate joke. His powdery white skin accented the blood-red lipstick that stretched into a sick grin, baring teeth that loomed like fangs in his mouth.

Joker's gloved hand slipped inside the lapel of his jacket. Robin knew what that meant.

"Wonder Boy," he boomed, lowering the tenor of his voice to mock Nabu. A silver knife flicked from its handle, gleaming in the surrounding light. "You are _mine!_" His own impression of Doctor Fate set him in stitches, laughing manically, revealing his voice's true pitch.

Robin tore himself from the mud, ignoring every ache it gave him. Joker's blade was too quick for worrying about a couple bruises.

The Boy Wonder had fought Joker before, plenty of times back in Gotham. A well-aimed shuriken or distraction was usually all it took to bring the freak down.

But that was where Batman had his back, where the plan was previously discussed. Even Joker's unpredictability had certain patterns if one looked hard enough, patterns that could be taken advantage of.

Knives were Joker's style, check. Stupid quips before an attack, check.

And still, he wasn't going through the motions here. His heart raced in his chest, but not in the typical a-maniac-with-knives-and-nothing-to-lose-is-trying-to-kill-me manner. The whole situation was too hot.

Joker drew a second blade. Robin dodged a swipe for his chest and another for his torso, one following the other immediately and leaving hardly enough time for him to side-step the strikes at weak spots on his body. He was wasting no time in going for the kill, laughing while he did.

A rash swipe for his waist offered the perfect opportunity to round off away from the clown. His hands slipped beneath the water and found no traction in the slime and gunk, but the momentum allowed him to finish the maneuver a good five yards from the range of the blades.

He landed heavily, upsetting any balance he had and cruelly jarring his spine. His boots slid in the mud, forcing him to hunch to keep from falling.

Either he was really off his game or…

Joker beamed, noticing his mistake. He was wounded, spent from the fight, slow.

He held his knives in front of him, aligning their glistening points with Robin's body. "I've always wanted to carve this bird…" he growled.

Robin clenched his teeth. He was on a mission. To Joker, today was the day he not only crushed the world with Cobra Venom, but finally got his hands on Batman's Boy Wonder.

He was frenzied with bloodlust.

Robin set his feet and breathed deep. _Not today._

Joker charged, his arms back like a child—a demonic, manic child—cackling with glee.

Robin grabbed at his utility belt for a birdarang. The clown's twisted shoulders blocked his hands and destroyed any chance of an easy disarm. And he was coming up fast.

As much as he hated the chill that ran up his spine, Robin locked eyes with Joker, trying to gauge his next move. There was only mad drive, as if he was going to plow right through him rather than strike.

His arms lashed out, sending two scarlet discs flying, but Joker ducked effortlessly, letting them sail over his head to collide with a pathetic _clink_ and disappear in the sludge. His smile widened. He was right on top of him now.

Suddenly, thick green vines shot up from the water and clung to Robin's wrists. He had only enough time to gasp and widen his eyes at the tendrils, noticing the glow of Cobra Venom in their veins, before being thrust back off his feet.

He cried out before colliding with a tree trunk, losing the air in his lungs. The vines had pulled in opposite directions to pin him against the bark in a T-like fashion, holding fast. They curled and tightened like boa constrictors, relishing in the catch and practically wrapping him around the tree. He could feel his shoulders popping, his wrists ready to snap beneath the pressure. Robin groaned and clenched his teeth, wriggling against the constraints.

_Not good, not good—_

Sloshing steps approached.

Joker played with the end of his knives, stroking them each in turn. His gaze was locked with Robin's own furious expression, though he was trying to steady his breathing at the moment. His position wasn't exactly ideal.

He had to stall.

Unsure, he started, "Pathetic! Couldn't finish me without Ivy's help?"

Joker just chuckled. "Don't be so cocky, Boy Blunder." He ran the blades over one another slowly, sharpening them, letting the sounds of metal on metal ring. He shrugged. "Well, it _wasn't_ exactly _helping_, you moving about like that. At least this way you're a lot more still…"

He took one last step and closed the space between them. His breath was rotten and his eyes green and hungry—snake eyes. "Like a frog on a dissecting table!"

Robin kicked out with his free feet, landing two solid blows under Joker's ribs. The clown grunted and staggered back, hunched enough so Robin could glimpse at the battle field. If he could catch someone's attention maybe he could—

Joker pummeled Robin's unprotected torso, fire blazing in his eyes and a cackle on his lips. He curled inwards, coughing for air. Bowing his head was all he could do to numb the pain. It didn't work.

"Ooh ha ha ha! This frog's got some _jump_ in him!" Joker snickered. He advanced once more.

Robin's feeble duplications of his previous attack were easily dodged, and he found the clown flush against him. They locked eyes. Panic was taking over, his mind running a million miles a minute, unable to think or take any sort of action. What was there to do? Struggle anymore and he'd break his arms!

The sharp point of a knife dug into his side, the blade of the other pressed on his throat. Robin held his breath, afraid that the smallest movement would send the edge slicing through skin.

"Ooh, the bird has sense, does it?" Joker chided at Robin's stillness. "Polly want a cracker?"

Robin's anger flared. "You'll be on the ground in two seconds, I'll bet my li—ah!"

"Two seconds is all I need, sonny!" Joker said, pushing his knife harder into Robin's neck. "Just try not to squirm too much, huh?"

Robin gulped. His mind ran blank.

Joker's eyes fell to where his knife was poised at Robin's spleen. Keeping the second blade still and steady at his throat, he traced something on his ribs with the point of the first, running his tongue over his front teeth. Shivers ran down to his bones, noticeably so, and Joker chuckled, feeding off his fear.

It made Robin sick.

There was no warning, no, "Now, this is gonna sting a little." The pain was unlike anything Robin had ever experienced. Even only at 13, he had been beaten and electrocuted, thrown from terrible heights and burned. But the feeling of Joker carving into his ribs exceeded all previous pains combined.

His side erupted with an excruciating agony. Robin threw his head back in a scream, accidentally allowing the second knife to slide over his esophagus. Screw keeping still—every nerve in his body acted on instinct, convulsing to move away. The vines held fast against his writhing; his shoulder blades touched behind him. He pulled his knees up involuntarily to shield himself, but he tried to kick Joker off, kneeing him in the ribcage and the stomach.

But he was too close. They couldn't slip between the two men enough to cause any sort of damage.

The world was going dark, fading through the Boy Wonder's mask like the end of a film. Each spasm knocked the blade around in its crevice in his skin.

"Oh, just keep _still_! You're messing me up!" Joker groaned.

Robin swallowed his next scream, clamping down on his lower lip to silence himself. He hated that he had screamed in the first place.

But, holy wow, it hurt like mad.

The blade lifted from its work. A guttural noise passed through Robin's teeth in place of a scream, spraying saliva. His eyes watered.

"_Tsk tsk tsk._ A little crooked."

Robin dared a glance. Joker's mouth drew back into a grin too large to be natural. He eyed his work, malicious pride in his eyes.

"I always thought 'X marks the spot' was a little cliché," he continued. "Even for me." The knife at Robin's throat dropped and returned to Joker's inside pocket, much to his relief.

He hung his head to clear his vision and catch his breath. The pain was beginning to localize, retreating to the place of origin, but it was almost worse than feeling like his whole ribcage was on fire.

A gloved hand fisted into his hair, thowing his hand back against the tree with a thud. He seethed into the side of Joker's face as the clown whispered a muffled burble in his ear. While the words were lost to him, Robin looked on at the fight taking place far off from where he was pinned between a tree and a killer, too deep in the trees to be noticed by his fighting comrades.

And he knew he was about to die.

Superboy was hand-to-hand with Ultra-Humanite.

Aqualad remained melded with Fate, fighting overhead with Wotan…and losing.

A blur passed over the fight, a swirl that distorted the trees and sky when it moved, dodging Cobra plants as they thrust from the ground like spears. Grasping her head, Miss Martian reappeared from camouflage mode, losing altitude.

And here he was, with Joker's knife pressed to his side once more.

_I don't want to die!_ his mind screamed. _I don't want to die!_

_Robin! _came M'gaan's voice. _What's wrong?_

His response was cut off when Joker once again pushed his head back against the tree by his hair, holding him at arm's length and grinning from ear to ear.

He began to laugh, a quiet giggle that grew to sharp cackling.

"Tell the big man I said, 'Hello!'" He drew the blade back for the killing stroke.

_Robin! NO!_

The pressure on his ribs and head vanished and Joker flew back against tree, revealing M'gaan in the mud, eyes glowing green with power. Her gaze met Robin's. Her mind shrieked in terror.

_Robin! Hold on!_

_What's up?_ KF had joined the link.

_Ivy's got Robin immobilized!_

_On it!_ Artemis chimed. Her golden hair whipped in tandem with her kick to Count Vertigo, sending him toppling into Poison Ivy.

The vines at Robin's wrists slackened and shivered, like something had weakened them. He knew the feeling. With one last stubborn burst of strength, he balled his hands into fists and writhed against the tree, yanking at the organic bonds. He groaned and seethed, crying out against the torment in his side, the pending fracture in his back. The vines ground against the bark and tore and stretched, until with a terrible snap, they severed.

The swamp rose to meet him. It was all he could do to turn his body just enough as not to drown—he couldn't count on a hasty recovery when he landed.

The water hit his wound like acid. "Gah!"

_Robin, look out!_

Afterwards, he couldn't remember who it was that warned him. If he had, he would have owed them his life. He jerked his head up to face Joker's scowling visage. His sickly green hair hung in his eyes, his lipstick smeared across one cheek.

_Totally disheveled. Not that I look sheveled…_

He was a sitting duck down here in the mud. He wouldn't last long against the Joker's boiling fury.

Despite every nerve in his body begging for him to stay still, he threw himself to his feet, clutching at the—who knows what at his side. He pulled his fingers away, wincing at the sight of red.

Joker clung to his knife as a child grasps a favorite toy. He got to his feet, a muddy abomination rising from slop, the rancor of denial of a malicious dream seeping from every pore. "You don't play fair, do you, froggy?" He spat into the water. "Fine." Redrawing his second dagger and adjusting the grips on both, he pulled back to strike.

Each attack came quicker than the last, smoother and more threatening, and each progressively more difficult to avoid. Robin was losing blood, and fast. He could fight with sore muscles, no problem, but battling this natural weakening was another matter. The world about him swirled. Were there two Jokers?

His sluggish parries pulled laughter from Joker's lips. "Pathetic. Couldn't finish me without the alien's help?" He cackled with another jab at Robin's wound. "Oh, just lie down and die already!"

Robin threw himself back, bending his body to avoid the arcing right swipe, but losing his balance simultaneously. His stomach lurched at his mistake. Joker was right on top of him, plunging both knives down to end it.

Robin braced for pain.

When the glorious sound of metal-on-metal rang out. Four splashes in the water, two knives and two batarangs, accompanied the wet landing of almost a dozen Justice League members in the swamp, corralling the enemy at the center.

They raised their hands, one by one, in surrender.

Joker's mouth twitched at the corners, the white of teeth peeking through his lips. "It seems ol' Batsy has dropped in to end the fun," he chuckled. The shadows caught his brow as he turned back to Robin, a raccoon-like mask over his eyes to make them glow. Robin shuddered. "Maybe not today, huh? Until next time, boy…" He made an obvious gesture to Robin's chest. "Something to remember me by."

Robin spat. "Screw you." He winced—his voice was raw and dry, utterly weak.

Joker straightened and backed away to join the group, raising his hands in surrender, a laugh on his lips.

Robin felt positively nauseated. He thrust a foot out to catch his balance but had to lean against the trunk of a tree to keep from collapsing.

He watched the scene nearby unfold: Joker was throwing a fit, a total switch from the calm he had shown moments earlier; Batman struck him hard in the jaw, silencing his manic laughter following the sprouting of Cobra plants that released noxious green fumes; Fate cleared them away before any harm could be done.

Robin took a step towards the party, eager to join his victorious team and revel in the good work they'd done, though he knew Kaldur was still trapped inside Fate.

The step sent jolts up his spine and he started to fall forward. A pair of arms caught him halfway down, supporting him under a shoulder and around the back.

M'gaan steadied him. "I've got you. Okay, here, just sit down. Come on, just sit down." Her voice was shaking.

She practically carried him to the base of a willow whose roots rose out of the water to form a semi-dry island. She settled him between the roots. Robin staggered his breathing to avoid expanding his lungs too far, and the gnarled base of the willow forced him to pull his legs up, a much appreciated adjustment.

M'gaan turned back to the team. "Artemis! KF! I need you over here now!" She paused. "Batman! Over here!"

Robin shot M'gaan a look she didn't see. Batman? He was in pain but…

He had almost gotten killed. He had proven that he couldn't take care of himself in a solo fight against someone like the Joker. Boy, was he going to get an earful.

M'gaan turned back to Robin's wounds. Her fingers lingered over him, like she wasn't sure where to start, until she finally settled on what obviously needed the most immediate care.

She pulled her cape around her and threaded it through her hands to find the cleanest spot there was. The whole of her costume was caked in mud and grime, but the cape seemed to get the best of the beating. She bunched up a mostly clear area of the cloth and gingerly began to clean up the wound.

Robin bristled at the sting, chomping his tongue to hide the pain.

"Sorry," the Martian apologized. "Just hold still. This doesn't look too bad…" Her voice faded.

Robin lifted his head, wincing. "What?" he asked.

M'gaan was shocked. Her mouth hung slightly open. She met Robin's eyes for only a moment before swallowing hard and turning back to her work.

Robin frowned. "What? Worse than you thought?" He flinched. "It definitely _kills_."

Wally and Artemis appeared over M'gaan's shoulder. Wally was wearing a makeshift sling made from some deep green cloth. Good, he had gotten taken care of.

"What happened?" Wally started in immediately.

M'gaan's response was quiet and far off, almost reluctant. "Ivy and Joker double-teamed Robin…"

Artemis gasped. "You didn't get cut by one of the Cobra plants, did you?" She looked down at the bruises and scrapes coating his forearms and the tears in his leather gloves.

"Don't think so," he answered. "But I did get a little one-on-one time with Joker." His words closed up in his chest. He had no desire to live that again, to smell the clown's rotting breath or see the gleeful shimmer in his eyes when he went to…or to even let the team know that he had let him get that far. There wasn't much hiding it, though.

"What happened?" Batman joined them, wearing the scowl that was natural and characteristic of the caped crusader. And Robin found himself shying away from his puzzled expression. "Robin, what happened?"

He gently brushed Artemis aside to better see past M'gaan, even placing a hand on her shoulder to lean over and assess the damage done. His face morphed and twisted, like he was trying to hide an outburst or swallow a gasp.

Robin's heart leapt. What could be so terrible that… "Batman? What's going on?"

Wally and Artemis craned their necks and gasped, alternating horrified looks between Robin and one another. "Oh, dude," Wally breathed.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He planted his hands and sat up against the roots, but pain flared in his chest and stomach, so he only bent his neck.

"Okay, what's with all the gasping? What is it?" He sort of laughed, half-heartedly, and mostly to keep from losing it. But it squeaked in his throat at what he saw.

A harsh letter "J" had been sliced into the flesh just inside his ribcage. The top of the letter was half-hazard, the way something looks when someone bumps your elbow when writing. Except the mistake was much cruder with a knife: the upset had carried out across his waist, riding along Robin's lower rib to resemble the flair of an artist's signature. His uniform had been shredded to reveal the atrocity; blood oozed from the incision, staining his side and M'gaan's cape scarlet.

He thought he was going to hurl.

_Something to remember him by._

M'gaan exhaled heavily. "It's _really_ not as bad as it…" but she stopped.

He felt faint. It was a brand. A _brand_. A lunatic's territorial mark. And a promise for execution—"J marks the spot."

"We'll…patch it up when we get back to headquarters," Batman said quietly. "For now, we need to finish up here and deal with Kaldur." He turned away quickly with a sweep of his cape and disappeared from Robin's sight.

Wally watched him walk away, wearing a look of shock and utter disgust. Robin couldn't tell if it was at his wound, or for Batman. He turned back saying, "Dude…sorry. I should've done something—"

"There's nothing you could've done, KF," Robin muttered.

"Well _I_ certainly could have," Artemis whispered, crossing her arms over her chest. She avoided Robin's gaze. "I should've—"

"This is no one's fault!" Robin finally exclaimed. He winced against the strain. "I got sloppy, that's it. I'm the only one to blame here."

Wally's face flared. "Are you kidding me? Aren't you forgetting the freaks that did this to you in the first place?"

Robin shook his head. "They would never have gotten the chance if I hadn't—"

"Bull! Breaking an arm," he rolled his right shoulder, indicating his sling. "That's something mostly avoidable, something I attribute to carelessness and…" he glanced at Artemis. "…a lack of focus. _That_," he tentatively nodded to Robin's side, breathing deep. It was _gruesome_. "Is nobody's fault. No one's but the clown's."

Robin bowed his head. He wanted to believe that, honest and truly. But Batman's lessons came flooding back to him, offering a million reasons why it _was_ his fault and how it could have been avoided. Did he just prove he was unfit for the field?

Seeing Wally was waiting for a sign of understanding, he nodded.

"That's the best I can do for now," M'gaan declared. "It'll need proper treatment, obviously, to avoid infection. And stitches." She gulped, brushing a strand of red hair from her eyes, which were trained on the mark.

"Thanks M'gaan," Robin cracked a smile, one he really meant. He'd be dead if it wasn't for her.

"C'mon," Artemis sighed. "Let's join the others. Let's get Aqualad back."

After gauzing his side up with the kit from his belt, Artemis and M'gaan helped Robin to his feet, being extra careful of his bruising arms. A few steps allowed him to regain strength in his legs, but standing up straight was another matter. He hunched over like a pack mule, afraid to stretch his torso too much and open his wound further.

They joined the Justice League in the swamp clearing, but Robin stayed near the back. If Joker was still conscious, he refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing him near black out.

Focusing too much on staying awake, he hardly registered what was happening. He decided to count and identify the League members that had saved their backsides, one by one—Black Canary, Captain Marvel, Zatara, Superman, Batman.

He made eye contact with his mentor for only a second before tearing away. Reflex caused him to stand up straight and steel his expression, much to his own chagrin as his body screamed in protest.

Captain Atom, Green Lantern, the Hawks…

Batman appeared next to him and he stiffened. He trembled with keeping his back straight. His legs wobbled.

"Robin," Batman muttered.

"I'm good, Batman, trust me." That was far from the truth.

"You're not."

"I'm alright! Really!" He turned slightly in hopes that eye contact might convince him. He held out his arms for display, as much as it killed. "Just a scratch, is all."

"Robin, stop."

That took him aback. Batman's voice got firmer, more serious, if possible. Robin dropped his arms and turned away.

"I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Comes with the job…"

"It shouldn't. This shouldn't have happened."

Robin flinched. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, really. I messed up real bad."

There was a silence. "That's not what I mean at all, Robin."

He lifted his head to Batman. He was staring as if his protégé had just turned into some animal, and he could have sworn (though he brushed the idea aside quickly) that his eyes were somehow softer, that he was looking at Bruce Wayne rather than the hardened hero that had trained him to ignore pain and setback.

And in an instant they reverted to stone once more. His jaw set and he looked back as Fate restrained the villains with golden chains. "We'll talk later," were his final words before he rejoined Superman on the opposite side of the circle.

Robin's shoulders sagged, and he found himself tracing the letter at his side, a lump forming in his throat. A headache was settling in his cortex.

Along with the realization that looking in the mirror would never come easy again.

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**[AN]: Please review, favorite, etc. **

**This is my first Young Justice story and my second time watching the series through so you may expect more depending on if my soul can handle the agony. This story is meant to explore the relationship between Robin and Batman. If anyone is watching the reboot of Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, you'll see how Robin lives in mortal fear of his mentor, something I'm not entirely a fan of but don't exactly disagree with either. I believe he lives in fear of disappointing him, something touched in 1x17 during the Team's sessions with Black Canary. Let me know what you think about this in the reviews and get a discussion started!**

**Also, for anyone following Dog Fight, I _am_ human and far from perfect so please forgive my hiatus :( the conclusion is in the works, but I'm a perfectionist (this story took me 3 days to write...) so it may be a little while.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~~Iridian~~**


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